One of Runts

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: Azrael

        I stare into the pale green eyes of the she-wolf before me. She's short, but I suspected as much due to her wolf form and her being a runt. Despite her very slender and thin form, everywhere I look is covered in lean muscle.

        I know that she's strong, though I know I'm stronger. She's still a runt, though she is smaller and is much quicker. I wouldn't say we're an even match, though we're close should we decide to spar.

        Her hair, which looks a very dark color, raven colored, though it does look a little brown, is tied up. It looks a little ruffled and a few pieces are hanging down, framing her small face.

        She's not as short as I thought she would be, though. She's still much smaller than me, standing around a foot shorter than me. Her shoulders are squared, her feet below them, and her head held high.

        She's standing in a fighting pose and it shows her capability as a fighter, runt or not. I tilt my head to the side as I look over her clothing. She's wearing black jeans that hug her legs and a blouse that looks uncomfortably tight around her middle and breasts.

        "I honestly thought you would be dressed in training leathers," I tell her, blinking in shock at my words. She just tilts her head to the side slightly, her hair falling with her, and lifts a black eyebrow.

        Her face is all serious, though I can see the twitch her lip and the slight rosiness to her cheeks. I look away slightly, rubbing my hand through the back of my hair. It's long as I haven't had any time to cut it, but by the way Ever is eyeing up my bangs, I don't think I'll cut it.

        Her lip quirks up lightly as she pats down her black jeans. "You don't like what I'm wearing?" she asks me. I shake my head at her, a chuckle escaping my throat. I know she's joking about it, yet I still reply to her.

        "It looks," I tilt my head to the side, looking her over again. "Nice." She quirks an eyebrow but shakes her head at me, a small smile on her lips.

        "You were saying about the dining hall...?" she trails off, unsure. I blink in surprise, completely forgetting about the meeting.

        "We should head down," I tell her, looking down at my clothes. Black slacks, black shoes, a white button-up, a dark green vest, and a dark purple tie. I had left my black jacket with my clothing, which lays in a suitcase on my bed.

        I see her nod and I walk towards my front door. I pull it open and gesture for her to go before me. Her head is still held high as she walks by me, though I can tell that she's now in "respectful mode".

        She waits for me to walk start walking before following after me. She stays by my side though is still one step behind me. Most wolves would want her to move further behind them, especially since she's a runt, though it just makes me want to frown and pull her right beside me.

        Ever's an amazing wolf and is an even better tracker from what I could tell when we were hunting. Not only that, but she is, or was, Second-In-Command of her squadron. A squadron which is one of the top ones in the pack. I also heard from my other uncle, Alpha Quill, that she's in the top twenty tracker wolves in his pack.

        Despite all of this, she doesn't seem to acknowledge that she is more powerful than more wolves and doesn't hold that much confidence around others. I saw how she was pushed to the back of the pack when we were traveling here, yet she didn't push ahead, despite being faster than them all.

        She seems to think herself of just a runt and will be lower than any wolf, despite her rank in her pack. I walk down the last staircase towards the main-hall as I think of this. I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. I'll have to help her, she should be in my hunting group after all.